In the applause, the three candidates are on an equal footing, in the park swept by a strong mistral where the departmental federation brought together 400 people for its return.

Alphabetical order obliges, Eric Ciotti is the first on stage, and he unsurprisingly unfolds a speech on the very right method, based on the values ​​of “identity, authority, freedom”.

Because LR lost all its deputies in the Bouches-du-Rhône in the last legislative elections, while its own department of the Alpes-Maritimes saved five seats: "it is not the result of chance", recalls he.

Criticizing the "downgrading which threatens the greatness of our nation" and immigration "which has plagued our cities", the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes repeats from the outset his support for Laurent Wauquiez for the presidential election of 2027.

He also promises a "clear, unambiguous, uncompromising opposition" to the macronie, which will however need the extra voice of LR to vote on crucial texts (in particular the budget) in the fall.

His candidacy frightens some, he knows, and warns against seeking an alternative: "the gathering of immobility has triumphed" in 2021, with the choice of Valérie Pécresse as presidential candidate.

"I'm sure you won't let this scenario play out again," adds the candidate, who can claim strong support from members in the south-east.

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A more consensual candidate for the December 3 election, Bruno Retailleau also delivers a strong speech during his 20 minutes on stage.

"The right must carry a project of civilization" because "the right is identity, a real right even if it means offending well-meaning", launches the boss of LR senators, who wants "to respond to the anxiety of downgrading , of cultural dispossession".

This goes through the sovereign: "yes to double sentences, yes to minimum sentences", he assures, estimating in terms of immigration that we need "fewer suction pumps, less reception, and above all a referendum " .

On the economy where "the State is not Mother Teresa", the senator from Vendée pleads that "all social minima can be put in the same capped allowance".

In his speech, the "ecological leftists" and "the wokists" act as a foil: "those who want to eat tofu will eat tofu, I want to continue to barbecue", he says to applause.

"Packaging"

Between the two, the challenger Aurélien Pradié plays the card of the "republican promise" and renewal, ensuring that he has turned the page on Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The right must become popular again by speaking to young people and all social categories", assures the deputy of Lot.

While "all parties are changing" and "conquering electorates that were ours", number 3 of LR pleads to "change everything", and not just the name of the party.

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He does not hesitate to take his side against the grain, castigating "the economic model of hyper-consumption which has gone mad" or refusing to "tell a worker who started at 18 that he will have to work for a few years more" -- which elicits some applause.

In the audience, Serge Delmas, 65, assures that for him "it will be played between experience and experience", namely Bruno Retailleau and Eric Ciotti who "can carry a message in a responsible way, without falling into the RN".

Both "have a different speech in terms of packaging, but basically it's the same", estimates Maryline Antoine, fifty-year-old sensitive to their argument "on French recognition" but also to that of their rival on pensions.

Ambroise Malinconi, 26, who has just renewed his subscription, will vote for Aurélien Pradié because "he has brought back into the debate subjects that interest young people".

© 2022 AFP